Separate Ways
by WindowChild
Summary: The BSC members lost track of each other, somewhere along the way to discovering parenthood and the real world.


Kristy was the classic soccer mom. She went to college, married her college sweetheart, and moved to upstate New York. It had shocked her family, that she was so willing to leave Stonybrook, but she'd done it anyway. It had seemed the necessary change, in order to make her life the way she wanted it.

They had five kids, with a sixth on the way. Kristy had insisted upon it, wanting a family that was similar to the one she had. Her husband had grinned and asked if she was sure she didn't want eight, and she had kissed him. That's why she loved him, after all.

She was happy, most of the time. She had a great family, and a great volunteer job at the kids' school. It was the life she'd always wanted.

She lost touch with the other members of the BSC. They sort of drifted away from each other, and she only ever spoke to Mary Anne now. And that was only once or twice a year.

But still, they'd been kids. It wasn't as if they could have stayed friends forever, right?

* * *

Mary Anne had moved to a quiet town, a little outside of Stonybrook. It was small and familiar, and she was content there. She and her husband had two little girls, who were both spoiled and protected as if they were precious gems.

She knew that they might not always appreciate it, but she wanted to make sure that they knew how much she loved them. She was careful, though. She never followed in her father's footsteps; she never crossed the border into obsessive.

Her life was the way she wanted it. Satisfying and predictable, with the picture perfect family that she'd always wanted. Dawn and her family visited once or twice a month, and she talked to Kristy on occasion.

Whenever she thought about the BSC, it was with indifference. They'd been her best friends, but she'd never stopped resenting them for letting it all end. _They_ had stopped caring, and it had broken her heart.

* * *

Claudia alone remained in Stonybrook. She didn't understand why everyone else wanted to leave so badly; it was the perfect town. She was an artist there, and a single mother of two kids. Her husband had left about three years after the youngest was born.

Life was hard, most of the time. It was difficult to get one's talents appreciated in such a small town, and she had to work twice as hard to get any galleries. It was worth it though. Every time she sees her daughters smudging lipstick on their faces, she smiles.

She kept her parents' house. It's nice, although sometimes a little sad. She hated to remember all of the people who she won't see anymore. Mimi and her friends, to name a few. They're all gone, and she gets nostalgic whenever she sees her daughter's room. The BSC headquarters, unrecognizable from its previous occupation.

They left her, plain and simple. It's not as if she went anywhere, after all.

* * *

Stacey lived in New York, her true paradise. She was kidding herself, thinking she was a small town girl. The houses and grass are nice, but when she walks the smooth concrete… she knows that that's truly where she belongs.

She didn't have any kids. She hadn't met the right guy yet, and wants to wait until she's absolutely sure she does. Maybe it's only fear over repeating history, but she got commitment phobia every time she's in a serious relationship.

But most of the time, things are okay. She has friends, although they're not as good as the ones she once had. She does volunteer work, in order to stay marginally focused on doing good. If she can't be a parent, it's the only responsibility she'll ever get.

Every few months, she has her secretary put Claudia Kishi's phone number on her desk. She stares at it, for a few days, before putting it aside. She'll call her later. It's become a bit a pattern, and sometimes Stacey hates herself for procrastinating. It's just that she doesn't know where to begin. They haven't seen each other in years, and she knows that she's to blame. She let the friendship go, and she knows it.

* * *

Dawn still lives in California. She realized, just as Stacey did, that she really wouldn't be happy anywhere else. The sun and the beach, they're just too perfect to leave behind. And now she knows it, and won't make the mistake of trying to again.

She's married, but they haven't talked about kids yet. Every so often she gets the itch that he doesn't want them, but they avoid the subject. Anything to avoid rocking the boat, and she knows they're headed for disaster.

Jeff moved back east. He's in business with the triplets, so she sees Mal sometimes. Mary Anne too, of course. But the others... She told herself she was happier without them. And she was, sadly enough. They made things too hard; too many things for her to run to.

She's finally found herself, and they're just not a part of her world.

* * *

Mallory has one son. He's smart and handsome, and everything she's ever wanted. And he has lots of cousins. Apparently she was the only one in her family who didn't want to repeat the tradition.

She married a boy from a newspaper she worked at. He writes too, although he's a reporter rather than a novelist. They mesh well though, both too creative for most people.

Jessi and she are still friends. Only an hour and a half away from one another, and they visit often. Besides her family, Jessi was the one at her congratulatory dinner the night she got her first book published.

Sometimes, they talk about finding their old friends. They're still naïve enough to think that if they stayed in touch, everyone must have. But they put it off, the same way as Stacey does, because they don't want to tarnish their pretty memories.

* * *

Jessi is pregnant with her first child. Eight months in, and waiting on the edge of her ballerina toes. She married a mathematician, ironically enough, but he knows enough to appreciate her dancing.

They're both ecstatic over the baby. They don't know its sex, which Jessi's mom often scolds, but they want the surprise of it. It's the first of the three that they want, just like each of their families.

Jessi wonders about her friends. She's spent so much time with Mallary, that her brain has taken on a sort of creative quality. She daydreams sometimes, and more often than not it's about what happened to them.

She truly won't accept the fact that they could have moved on from one another. In her mind, they were so close. She doesn't remember the fights, or the way things came apart at the end. All she thinks about is how they were the best of friends. And after so much time has passed, it's hard to say whether she remembers it wrong at all.

A/N: I know, I didn't include Abby. I didn't feel like she belonged though; it never seemed to me like she was all that close with anyone besides Kristy. s


End file.
